Minutewomen Advance to A-10 Semifinal With Win Over Saint Joseph's

BRONX, N.Y. -- Massachusetts (20-34, 14-12 A-10) continued its momentum, claiming an 8-6 elimination game victory over Saint Joseph's (22-30, 14-12) in game six of the 2024 Atlantic 10 Championship on Thursday afternoon at Bahoshy Field. The Minutewomen showed resilience, avoiding elimination and advancing to their first A-10 Semifinal since 2018.

Offensively the Minutewomen utilized a balanced attack scoring eight runs on 10 hits from five different players. Junior Lydia Castro helped lead the charge, going 2-for-3 with two RBIs and two runs. Senior Bella Pantoja, went an impressive 4-for-4 at the plate while recording two total runs. Grace Cadden made her impact felt in the batters box, recording a three RBI triple to go along with two walks.

Junior Julianne Bolton made her 27th start of the season and third consecutive in the A-10 Tournament. Bolton was effective in 4.1 innings of work, striking out three batters without giving up a single walk. Sophomore Natalee Horton, who earned her seventh win, provided a spark out of the bullpen allowing just three hits and one earned run over the final 2.2 innings in the circle.

Breaking Down The Action

Jumping out to an early 2-0 lead, Lydia Castro put the Minutewomen on the board with a two-run double in the bottom of the first.
Massachusetts piled on in the inning, making it 3-0 after first inning as Sarah Keagy pushed another run across.
Keagy once again added to the scoreline, making it 4-0 Minutewomen in the second inning after working a bases-loaded walk.
Saint Joseph's made a comeback rally in the fifth inning, tying the game at 4-4 after RBIs from Kayla Tauber and Gianna Muhaw.
The Minutewomen responded in the bottom frame, as the Minutewomen utilized aggressive baserunning to go up 5-4 on a fielding error.
Grace Cadden added more insurance for the Minutewomen, striping an RBI triple to score three runs and make it 8-4 heading into the seventh inning.
The Hawks put together a last ditch effort as singles from Tauber and Riley Yorke cut the Saint Joseph's deficit to 8-6.
Natalee Horton forced a groundout back to the mound ending the inning and securing a Massachusetts berth in the A-10 Semifinal.

Notable Numbers

3: Cadden recorded her third career triple in the afternoon matchup.
4: Pantoja recorded four hits on the afternoon, the most by a Minutewomen in a single-game this season.
5: With two hits on the afternoon Chloe Whitter now has five total base knocks through three postseason games.
7: Horton earned her seventh win of the 2024 campaign.
32: Bolton made her 32th appearance of the 2024 season.
53: Pantoja now has 53 total hits on the season, she has recorded 50-plus hits in every season of her career.

Up Next

UMass advances to the 2024 Atlantic 10 Championship Semifinal facing Saint Louis at 2:30 on Friday, May 10 at Bahoshy Field. Links and live updates can be found at umassathletics.com and @umasssoftball on X (Twitter).

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